One Mom's Adventures in Education and Aviation

Film

03/02/2012

After our impromptu movie night earlier this week, we decided to have another tonight. Netflix did not have Tora, Tora, Tora! (the mechanic's suggestion) so we went with Journey to the Center of the Earth, the original 1959 version. It's another that I had never seen, but generally all my favorite movies are 1980 and before. Our future pilot has seen the two recent ones and was surprised to learn there was another. (Just wait until she finds out Jules Verne wrote the story in 1864!)

Created after the success of Around the World in Eighty Days and 2000 Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth was a box office hit. It was nominated for Academy Awards in Best Art Direction, Best Set Decoration, Best Sound and Best Special Effects.

Use this entertaining movie to slip in a little education:

Jules Verne - Verne was a French author born in 1828. He wrote about many items long before they were ever invented: airplanes, helicopters, automobiles, submarines, computers and television to name a few. (National Geographic shows 8 of his literary inventions that came true here) His work inspired other authors as well as adventurers. Ray Bradbury (a science fiction writer) is quoted as saying "...we are all, in one way or another, the children of Jules Verne." William Beebe (the first biologist to observe deep sea life in it's natural environment) wrote of using a diving helmet to explore the Galapagos: "such magic had hitherto existed for me only in Jules Verne." Before his polar flight, Admiral Byrd said "Jules Verne guides me."

Geology - My future pilot has loved rocks since before she could pronounce geology. I have quite the collection I recovered from the washer after doing her laundry. Kids Geo is part of the Kids Know It learning network. They offer a free online geology text book. Play their rock identification game pretend to be Sir Oliver's student.

Reykjavik - The Icelandic capital. We know a little about it's airport thanks to a pilot friend. Learn the correct pronunciation here and then do a little research about "The Land of Fire and Ice." (check out this stuff)

Morse Code (best not learned from Gertrude!) - Invented by Samuel Morse to be used to send messages thru the telegraph (tele-far away or distant + graph-to write or draw = I love Greek and Latin roots!). Discover some Morse Code history, learn the alphabet, and translate your message.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park - "Carlsbad Caverns National Park served as the background for portions of the motion picture. Twentieth Century-Fox expresses its appreciation for the cooperation extended by the National Park Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior." Pretty good PR for the Parks Service. All of the filming in the caverns took place at night so it did not disturb public tours during the day. Study the local ecology and biology with free curriculum materials and learn about the history of this national park. You'll be pleased to know that if you visit you will enter and exit the caves by elevator instead of a giant asbestos bowl.

02/29/2012

I usually create/schedule all the lesson plans and educational experiences, but sometimes the mechanic surprises me (like how my new vacuum cleaner can lead to a discussion about turbine engines). After a long hot bath with my kindle I found my future pilot watching a movie instead of headed for bed. My mechanic informed me that this was an educational movie and I needed to watch too. After the movie intro and accompanying pop quiz on aircraft make and models I settled in to see what I could learn from ﻿The Final Countdown. One hundred three minutes and a little google later, here's what I've got:

Nets can be used to catch an airplane on the deck of an aircraft carrier during adverse conditions (i.e. sailing into a giant electric blue swirly thing)

The Navy had a liberal policy on facial hair during the '80s.

Someone was intelligent enough to invent a "helmet dispenser." Not sure if this is an actual device, but it looked nifty in the movie.

The photo said to have just been taken by the recon plane was an actual photo taken by the Japanese during their attack on Pearl Harbor.

The board game the sailors are playing is Squad Leader. You can still find it on ebay and it's been turned into a computer game.

"Uncommon valor was a common virtue." Statement after the battle of Iwo Jima by Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz (whom the aircraft carrier is named after)

The black and white attack footage was reused from Tora, Tora, Tora!

It's not one that I had heard of before and overall it was a good movie. Lots of flight scenes and a variety of aircraft (great views of in flight refueling). If watched with an aircraft enthusiast or two there is definitely educational potential. We talked about nuclear powered ships, aircraft carrier launches and landings, and the attack on Pearl Harbor. Seeing Japanese Zeros (actually AT-6 Texans) interact with F-14s showed the drastic leap technology made from the 1940s to the 1980s. The theory of time travel and the evolution of special effects could also be good topic spin-offs from this film. I just have to remember learning opportunities are everywhere, even in slightly corny sci-fi movies watched past bed time.